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Bummer, took the day off yesterday and went fishing Have a bunch of fish to go thru before doing pizza again I dont think anyone has posted a pizza recipe with fish on it, correct me if I am wrong, please. Will resume the pies soon I hope (or if we get tired of fish{Grilled, fried, baked, etc.etc.etc...})Pizzaholic

my (soon to be former apartmentmate--i'm moving out today) is from japan, and she tells tales of pizzas topped with things from squid to seaweed.-scott

Give them a spray with Pam before placing the dough. Don't press dough down and you will find these very useful. These things are great to sit on a plate to drain things like french fries. Used one last night when we had Vidalia onion rings.

I printed a copy of Randy's recipe about a month ago, and I can't find it now, but it called for 2 TBS each of honey and raw sugar. Has there been some pruning of the forums? Just curious.

So I just got my KASL this week and made Randy's dough last night (for pizza tonight woohoo), and I've got a few questions. Keep in mind I don't have a mixer so I stir things up in a bowl until its solid enough to put on the counter and knead there.

1. Most recipes want the yeast in the water (most of the time with the sugar/honey). I guess this is so the yeast can start on the sugar and get to work. Why does Randy's recipe put the yeast into the flour and leave the water/sugar/honey seperate?

2. There's also some specific instructions about mixing the salt with the flour first, and then adding 1/2 the flour to the mixer, letting that go for a few minutes, and then adding the rest of the flour and the olive oil. Is this just to make sure everything gets incorproated slowly? Am I really going to notice a difference if I just dump everything in and start mixing? I've made the xPHmgr's pan pizza dough several times in the past few months and I've noticed that it doesn't matter much how or when I put in the ingredients.

3. Finally, mabey I saw 2 different versions of Randy's recipe or mabey I'm just making it up, but its a fair question anyway: What's the protocal for after the dough comes out of the fridge? Do you let the dough ball come up to room temp and then pan it right before putting in the oven? Or do you split and pan the dough and let the skin come to room temp over the course of a couple hours.? I've done it both ways, and when the dough was panned for the 2-3 hour warm up it rose a lot more and got way more bubbles in it. I figured because more surface area was exposed to room temperature. I figure the "best" way to do this is just a matter of personal preference, but I'd love to hear some opinions.

I have made Randy's American pizza dough and variations of it several times so I have a general idea as to the methodology and logic involved.

Starting with the yeast, Randy's recipe calls for using the SAF Active Dry Perfect Rise yeast or the SAF Gourmet Perfect Rise yeast. If you look at the instructions on the back of the SAF yeast packets, you will see that they both call for mixing the yeast with half of the flour and other dry ingredients. I think Randy was only following those instructions. If that's the case, it follows that the rest of the flour mixture has to be added later. Doing it slowly will indeed improve the hydration of the flour. If you were using another brand of yeast, the instructions might call for proofing the yeast in water before combining with other ingredients.

It makes sense to put the honey and sugar in with the warm water. Both Randy and the yeast packet instructions recommend 120-130 degrees F water. The honey and sugar will obviously dissolve faster and better in the warm water. You don't want to add something like honey to the dry ingredients because it will only pill up and clump. I believe on some occasions Randy puts the oil in with the water also, and on other occasions kneads it into the dough in a separate step. I usually do the latter, because I believe that the flour will hydrate better and more effectively if oil isn't interfering with the process by creating a barrier between the water and the flour. Some people either do not know this, or they don't believe this, or they are just too lazy and don't care and will just combine all the liquids together. I can only speak for myself, but my personal practice is not to combine sugar (or honey) with the yeast in water. I also don't add the salt along with the yeast in water. I either dissolve the salt and sugar in the water (without the yeast) or add them dry to the rest of the dry ingredients, even the dry yeast. As indicated above, I knead in the oil separately. This is classic Tom Lehmann stuff. If you'd like his logic, let me know and I will do my best to explain it.

As far as the dough management and protocol is concerned, I believe Randy lets the dough rise on the counter rather than on the screen. That is, the dough is shaped into a skin, placed on the pizza screen, dressed, and then put into the oven. I don't believe he uses the approach of letting the dough rise on the screen (or pan). I personally don't use the latter approach for fear that the dough will stick to the screen and be difficult to dislodge after baking. It is, however, a common approach, and is frequently used with deep-dish doughs that are allowed to rise from a half-hour to 2 hours before dressing and baking. The process is sometimes referred to as "proofing" the dough. It's purpose is to create a lighter crust.